Display device



E. w. SMITH DISPLAY DEVICE Feb. 13, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5,1949 I'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR! ELMER WARREN SMITH ATTORNEY E. W.SMITH DISPLAY DEVICE Feb. 13, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1949INVENTOR [mm WAR/PEN SMITH Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED PATENT F F ICE2,541,303 DISPLAY DEVICE Elmer Warren Sinith, D0uglas'ton, N. Y.,a'ss'ignor to General Merchandising Bureau, Inc., New York, N. Y., a"corporation 'of Delaware ApplicationMarcll 5, 1949, Serial No. 79,809

'4 Claims. (01. HF-126) the customer circulates around the store andselects the merchandise "to be purchased without assistance from a clerkor salesman. In such stores as well as in others, it is particularlyimportant to display the goods in the most attractive manner so thatthey will sell themselves to the customer.

One object of my invention is to provide an attachment for a standardstore shelf which provides a more attractive medium for the display ofgoodssuch as packaged or cannedgoods.

A further object of the invention -is to :provide such an attachment ordisplay shelf which in addition has a relatively large extra space foradvertising, making it possible to. emphasize the merits of a givenproduct directly at the point of sale.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an attachment ordisplay shelf, with an upright front face which'bows or extends out atits center from the front edge of the store shelf, to which it isattached, so that the face of the ex tended section, with theadvertising it contains, will attract the attention of store customer-sapproaching along the store aisle-from either-side.

further objectis to 'provide'such -a display shelf that is portablein-that it may be applied to or removed from a standard store shelf atwill.

and that does not interfere-with the storage and display of other goodson adjoining shelves.

Other objectsand advantages of my invention 'will be apparent or will beexplainedin conjunction with the following description oftheinvention-and of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a portion of :a self service store showing the shelfattachment of my invention applied to certain sections of the storeshelves.

Fig.2 is a perspective view, on a -larger scale, of one form of displayshelf suitableforattachment to a section of a standard'sto're shelf.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional-view of the shelf taken approximatelyon the line 3--3 of- Fig.--2, andshowing the display shelf mounted inplace on the store shelf.

"Fig.4 is a plan-view of *a'somewhat different form of display shelfmounted'in place on astore shelf, and-showing the store shelf insection.

--Fig. 5 isa transverse sectional view of this alternative display shelftaken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through approximately the center ofa lighted display suit"- able for use 'on this display shelf, and takenapproximately on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. "7 is'a vertical sectional view of a container- .for literaturethat may 'be used on the display shelf of my invention as seen inperspective in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of a display shelfshowing a modified construction.

Referring to "the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3,numeral l0 indicates generally an arrangement of shelves in a selfservice supermarket or other type of store in which various packaged andcanned goods are displayed on the individual shelf sections I I.

In order to increase the sales of certain brands of goods, I proposethat a'false shelf I? having a projecting front portion i3 carryingadvertising be mounted in or on one or more sections of the store'shelves in whichsuch goods are to be displayed so that the advertisingand. goods dis-' played on the projecting portion "will catch the eyesof customers approaching along the store aisle from either side. Suchinstallations are indicated generallyat 1- 3 in Fig. 1.

The actual construction of the secondaryor display shelf itself may varyconsiderably in de tail although it preferably consists essentially ofashelf or supporting member l2 which fits over or on the store shelf andhas a bulging or project mg front edge that comes out at thecentral.p.or-:- tionsubstantially beyond themarginof the store:

shelf itself. The projecting front edge may be curved or polygonal inshape as long as its central portion juts out beyond the normal marginof the usual store shelf.

member 12. This panel or member l5ia1so preferably extends a substantialdistanceboth above.- and below the upper surface of 'theshe1fvlj2.

Beads or grooves i6 and" may be 'providedat. the top and bottom marginsof thisvertical'front.

member |5so thatadisplay or advertisingcarol may be'slid into plac'eandchanged from time:

to-time as the occasion demands.

This shelfassemblytis preferably anchored some fashion tothestore shelf13 byrmean-s;

of the bolts and-nuts it. If desiredaback wall 'member 20 mayalso beattached to or formed,

integral with the shelf l2 and constructed "so that itfitsback'fiush'against'the back of the.

store shelf 2! as seen in Fig, 3. This back wall 20 may also be providedwith a groove 22 at the top and a groove or punched out tabs 23 or othersuitable means at the bottom to receive an advertising card that willlie against the back wall 20 above the shelf l2.

While this form of display shelf is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 as madeof sheet metal, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisplay shelf in this or other forms may be constructed of any suitablecombination of wood,

metal, plastics or other materials adequate for the purpose.

In order to catch the customers eye more quickly, the shelf 42 may befitted with one or more lighted displays as indicated at 25. See alsoFig. 6. Such lighted displays may conveniently consist of a dummy can,bottle, box or jar of the goods to be displayed having translucent orpartially translucent walls as shown at 26 and supported on a seconddummy can or other suitable support 21 with a light 27a inside. One ormore of such lighted displays may be used and a suitable box or otherreceptacle 28 (Figs. 2 and 7) may also be mounted on one corner of theshelf 12 to hold printed matter 29 associated with thefgoods to bedisplayed. For example, recipes,

advertising pamphlets, coupons, entry blanks for contests and the likemay be placed in the receptacle 28.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 and 5,

these figures illustrate an alternative form of display shelf, in thiscase made of wood, as illustrated at 3B, but having the same projectingor bulging front portion 3| extending out beyond the store shelf 32 aspreviously described. In this form the back panel is omitted and thebulging edge of the front portion 3i of the shelf is provided with avertical panel 32a extending both above and below the shelf, and havingupper and lower grooves 33, 34 for display of advertising cards or thelike as described above In this case the shelf 30 may be attached to thestore shelf in a somewhat different manner. For example, the offsetbrackets 35 may be fixed to the projecting front portion 3i of the shelf39 by rivets, bolts or other suitable means as indicated at 35, and theoffset portions of these brackets may extend in under the store shelf32,

so that by simply tightening the thumb screws 38' the shelf 30 may beadequately anchored in place;

This form of shelf may be provided with one or more lighted display cans39 similar to the (us play cans 25.

As a further modification, the front panel of the display shelf may, ifdesired, be divided into two or more compartments (see Fig. 8). Forexample, this panel may be made up of two sections 4| and 42 eachprovided with top and bottom grooves as shown at 43, 44, 45 and 46 sothat two separate cards carrying advertising or other printed matter maybe separately installed and changed as needed.

By means of this device it is possible to featur certain goods or brandsof goods in a veryattractive appealing manner without interfering withthe other stock in the store. these featured goods, the advertisingassociated therewith and the locations of the portable display shelvesmay be quickly and easily changed from time to time as the occasiondemands.

The terms and expressions which I have em-.

ployed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and Ihave no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, ofexcluding any Also, of course,

equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, butrecognize that various modifications are possible within the scope ofthe invention claimed.

I claim:

1. A portable display shelf for grocery stores and the like whichcomprises a shelf member constructed to fit over a standard store shelf,said member having a front portion to support goods and shaped toproject out beyond the store shelf and the like which comprises a shelfmember con-f structed to fit over a standard store shelf and supportgoods thereon, said member having a curved; front portion shaped toproject out substantially beyond the store shelf, and an uprightpanelsecured to the edge of said projecting portion, said panel extendingabove and below the level of said shelf member for a distancesubstantially.

less than the distance between store shelves and being constructed toreceive and hold an 'adver-" tising card.

3. A portable display shelf for use on the store shelves of grocerystores and the like which com prises a shelf member adapted to fit overthe store shelf and support a number of articles of merchandise with aportion of said article sup-.'

porting member extending beyond the forward edge of the store shelf,said member being formed" with a convex forward edge the center of whichprojects a substantial distance beyond the for-- ward edge of the storeshelf, and means securedto said convex forward edge for holding a sheetof advertising matter in a vertical position along said convex edge sothat it can easily be read fromthe side as well as from the front, saidmeansbeing substantially less in height thanthe dis-- tance betweenadjacent store shelves.

4. A portable display shelf for grocery stores or the like having ashelf portion, means for removably attaching said shelf portion to astore;

shelf, said shelf portion extending at its center a substantial distancebeyond the forward edge of the store shelf and an upright front panelsecured to the forwardly extending part of said; shelf portion andconforming generally to the.-

shape thereof, said panel having a height less than the distance betweenshelves and extending from above the level of said shelf portion to apoint below the level thereof, and said panel hav-. ing means forholding an advertising card.

ELMER WARREN SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

2,467,411 Tingdale Apr. 19, 1949

